Numerical Simulation of the Effect of Leading-edge Tubercles on the Hydrodynamic Performance of Hydrofoils at Low and High Reynolds Numbers

Johnson, Peter

Johnson P 2018.pdf (3.410Mb)

Access Status

Open access

Authors

Johnson, Peter

Date

2018

Supervisor

Andrew King

Type

Thesis

Award

MPhil

Metadata

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Faculty

Science and Engineering

School

Mechanical Engineering

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/74948

Collection

Curtin Theses

Abstract

The tubercles on the pectoral flippers of humpback whales are thought to give superior manoeuvrability to these marine mammals. Numerical simulation of the flow over hydrofoils with and without leading-edge tubercles were conducted to test the protuberances’ effect on the hydrofoils hydrodynamic performance. Results showed that tubercles provided additional lift for post-stall conditions at low Reynolds number, but only had detrimental effects on the lift and drag generated at high Reynolds number.